In 1867 one of the
responsibilities of the newly formed Metropolitan
Asylums Board
(MAB) was the care and control of all pauper cases of fever and
smallpox in London. To this end, MAB began a programme of
building infectious diseases hospitals.

Early in 1868 MAB purchased land north of The Grove, Homerton, directly
adjacent to the East London Union workhouse. The site, just under 8
acres, had cost £11,812 and was to be used for a paired fever and
smallpox hospital for northeast London.

The Homerton Fever Hospital, at the north of the site, opened first, in
December 1870. It had 200 beds, which were immediately filled
with cases of 'relapsing
fever' (a disease similar to typhus, but caused by the spirochaete Borrelia recurrentis).
Building work continued on the
adjacent smallpox hospital (a smallpox epidemic seemed imminent as the
number of cases were increasing) and this opened on 26th February 1871,
a month after its sister hospital, the South
Western Smallpox Hospital in Stockwell.

The Fever Hospital had cost £27,320 to build. The pavilion
blocks contained six wards of 18 beds each for typhus patients, two
wards of 18 beds each for those with scarlet fever, two wards of 24
beds each for enteric fever cases and two 4-bedded wards for special
cases (one for male and one for female patients).

The Homerton Smallpox Hospital, built at a cost of £19,964,
contained 102 beds in four pavilion blocks. There were eight
wards with 12 beds each and 2 special wards - one for 3 male and one
for 3 female patients. As with other infectious diseases
hospitals, each bed space for typhus, scarlet fever and smallpox cases
was allocated 2,000 cubic feet (67 cubic metres) or 1,633 cubic feet
(54
cubic metres) for enteric fever.

Within a few days of opening at the end of February 1871 the Smallpox
Hospital had been filled and
the Fever Hospital had to be appropriated. It was also soon
filled.
As the epidemic increased, more beds were placed in the wards,
while convalescent patients were housed in the corridors, then in tents
erected in the grounds. The average
length of stay for a patient was 51 days. By June 1871 the Fever
Hospital contained
284 smallpox cases and the Smallpox Hospital 152. By July the
epidemic
was abating and the use of the Fever Hospital for smallpox cases was
discontinued. It was cleaned and disinfected and reopened as a
Fever Hospital. The Hospital then received fever patients from
all over London until the end
of June 1872, when the South Western Fever
Hospital (which was being
used for smallpox patients) reverted to its proper role. During
this
time some 3,390 patients had been admitted - 378 with simple
continued
fever, 528 with typhus, 884 with enteric fever, 1,042 with scarlet
fever and 558 with other diseases (measles, chickenpox, pneumonia,
rheumatism, TB, etc). Of these, 601 had died.

The Smallpox Hospital continued to receive a large number of smallpox
cases until the midsummer of 1872. By October 1873 it was almost
empty. The wards were cleaned, disinfected and repainted.
During the epidemic some 4,372 cases had been admitted, of which
811
had died (608 of these had been unvaccinated) - a mortality rate of
18.5%. Unvaccinated smallpox patients had a far higher mortality
rate - 35.5% - compared to 7.6% of vaccinated patients.

Patients' visitors were limited to the nearest relatives and intimate
friends; they were warned that they ran a great risk in entering the
Hospitals. Those visiting smallpox patients were advised to be
revaccinated and to eat before entering. They were instructed to
sit
on a chair at some little distance from the bed and to avoid touching
the patient (especially any emanations from their skin) or their
bedclothes and to avoid exposure to the patient's breath. The
Smallpox Hospital provided wrappers for visitors to wear over their
clothes. Visitors were advised to wash their faces and hands in
carbolic soap and water before leaving the Hospital, and not to use
public transport to get home.

In 1873 four fever wards with 120 beds were set aside as a cholera
outbreak was feared, but the event did not happen and they were not
needed.

By October 1874 the Smallpox Hospital was being used as an auxiliary
fever hospital for overspill scarlet fever cases from the Fever
Hospital. Some 1,226 cases were admitted during the year, of whom
199 died (a mortality rate of 16%). Of the 15 nurses and servants
who contracted typhus, one died.

In 1875 the average daily cost of an in-patient in both Hospitals
(which was charged to the patient's parish) was about 1 shilling 3d
(about 6p), including provision, clothing and medications.
During the year, some 1,126 fever cases had been admitted, of
whom 159 died (a mortality rate of 14%).

In 1876, while the Smallpox Hospital was vacant, the administration
block was enlarged. New commodious offices were built for the
Medical Superintendent and the Steward adjoining newly enlarged
storerooms, with dormitory rooms above for male servants. Two new
mortuaries were erected, one for each of the Hospitals. The
grounds were improved, trees were planted and the roads resurfaced.
The average daily cost for an in-patient with fever had risen to
1s 6d (7p) and 1s 8d (8p) for a smallpox patient.

Later in 1876 another smallpox epidemic began. The Smallpox
Hospital
was again being used for scarlet fever cases from all over London, so
smallpox patients were sent to the South-Western Hospital. The
Smallpox Hospital finally reopened in August with 86 cases (the
infection was especially virulent in Islington). By October the
numbers of beds had had to be increased to 140. In November
convalescent patients were transferred to other hospitals, but the
epidemic continued. When 157 patients had been admitted, MAB
tried to find other accommodation, but the London
Fever Hospital
in Islington refused to take any more cases. The Fever Hospital
was filled with
patients, but the Hospital Committee reluctantly agreed to parts of the
Hospital being used for smallpox cases. The South-Western
Hospital accepted a large number of fever cases, while the remainder
were housed in the pavilions furthest away from the smallpox wards.
After five days of preparation, 151 smallpox patients were moved
to the Fever Hospital, while two wooden huts were built in the grounds
for acute and convalescent smallpox patients. Fortunately, there
was no cross-infection between the fever and the smallpox patients.

By the end of July 1878 the epidemic had abated and the Smallpox
Hospital was closed. The kitchen was enlarged, as was the
laundry, which was too small and ill-arranged. Internal repairs
and cleaning were carried out in the wards.

By October 1878 the Fever Hospital was admitting increasingly large
numbers of scarlet fever patients. The typhus wards had to be
used for them and the bed accommodation was increased from 200 to 240
by the use of the wooden huts. By the end of the year 1,048
patients had been received, of whom 140 had died (a mortality rate of
13%).

In January 1879 the Smallpox Hospital was being used for convalescent
enteric fever cases from the Fever Hospital. By October it was
full. The daily in-patient costs were 1s 4d (7p). By the
end of the year, some 937 cases had been admitted to the Fever
Hospital, of whom 139 had died (a mortality rate of 15%). Cases
of smallpox had been sent to the South-Eastern
Hospital in Deptford.

At the beginning of 1880 both Hospitals were again being used for fever
cases. The Smallpox Hospital reopened in February as smallpox
cases began to increase. By October a new epidemic was well
underway and by December the Smallpox Hospital was full.
Convalescent smallpox patients were sent to other hospitals.
Some 860 cases had been admitted, but 11 of these were infected
babies being breastfed by their unaffected mothers, 4 were unaffected
babies whose mothers had smallpox and 12 had some other eruptive
disease.

At the same time an outbreak of scarlet fever required the number of
beds in the Fever Hospital to be increased from 200 to 250. Some
1,061 patients were admitted, of whom 124 died (a mortality rate of
12%).

In 1881 both Hospitals were being used for their declared purposes, but
then the Fever Hospital again had to be used for smallpox patients.
A large portion - some 180 beds - was appropriated for smallpox
cases, while fever patients were sent to the South-Western Fever
Hospital in Stockwell. Smallpox patients were admitted at the
rate of 30 a day. By mid May any fever patients were housed in
the wooden huts, while the wards were filled with smallpox cases.
From May to July, 749 cases of smallpox were admitted to the
smallpox wards of the Fever Hospital (42 of these turned out to have
other diseases); 115 died (a mortality rate of 15%). The Fever
Hospital reopened for fever
patients in August, after thorough cleaning and disinfection.
From May to September, 595 smallpox cases were treated at the Smallpox
Hospital; 84 died (a mortality rate of 14.1%). In October the
Smallpox Hospital was disinfected and used for fever patients.
Smallpox cases were sent to the Atlas
hospital ship, but those too ill to travel were housed in two wards in
the Fever Hospital. During 1881 some 978 fever patients had been
admitted, of whom 152 had died (a mortality rate of 15,5%), and some
2,304 smallpox patients, of
whom 365 had died (a mortality rate of 16%).

In the first ten years of the Fever Hospital's existence, some 9,091
patients
had been admitted, of whom 1,517 had died (a mortality rate of 16.68%).

At the end of 1881 the laundry at the Fever Hospital was enlarged
and re-equipped with new apparatus. A new boiler house was built
and a new boiler installed. The height of the boundary wall was
increased and the entrance gate to the Hospitals improved, enabling the
more speedy entrance of ambulances.

Up to this time patients had been brought to the Hospitals in any
available vehicle, most of them unsuitable as they did not allow the
patient to lie down. Since the drivers were not MAB employees,
they were undisciplined and not averse to stopping along the way for a
drink in a public house, leaving the patient unattended unless
accompanied by a relative. In 1881 MAB acquired an ambulance
station in London Fields. The horse-drawn ambulances were fitted
with an air bed, pillows and blankets; hot water bottles and stimulants
were provided. An experienced nurse travelled with the patient
from home to hospital (and a male attendant if the patient was very
ill). Friends or relatives were not permitted to accompany the
patient in the ambulance. The drivers wore a uniform, which was
not allowed to be worn off duty (on pain of dismissal) and were not
permitted to stop at public houses. After each journey the
ambulance was washed and disinfected.

In 1882 some 40 beds in the Fever Hospital were reserved for severe
smallpox cases. During the year 1,343 fever patients were
treated, of whom 195 had died (a mortality rate of 14.5%). In the
smallpox wards 192 were
treated, of whom 31 had died (a mortality rate of 16%).

A Royal Commission, which had been established in 1881 to investigate
the prevailing agitation over the location of smallpox hospitals,
concluded that smallpox patients should not be kept in urban areas but
transferred instead to hospitals in isolated regions. From 1883
all smallpox patients were to be sent to smallpox ships moored outside
London.

In 1883 the Homerton Hospitals were renamed the Eastern District Fever
and the Eastern District Smallpox Hospitals. By 1884 the word
'District' had been dropped, and they both were known simply as the
Eastern Fever Hospital.

In 1885 an ambulance station was built off Brooksby Walk.

During 1887 some 1,907 fever cases had been admitted; 46 nurses and
servants had contracted infectious diseases in the course of their
duties.

By 1900 the Hospital had 362 beds. Some 2,513 patients had been
admitted during the year: 367 with scarlet fever (8% mortality),
1,633 with diphtheria (14% mortality) and 246 with enteric fever, of
whom 34 died (14% mortality). In September a new isolation
block was built and held in readiness for plague cases.

In 1912 the horse-drawn ambulances were replaced by 35 motor ambulances.

In 1921, when the Hospital had 375 beds, MAB purchased the adjacent
City of London Institution (the former East London Union workhouse)
immediately to the west of the Hospital, which had become the City of London Military Hospitalduring WW1. The buildings
were put
into use immediately without alteration, and provided 260 extra beds,
mainly for children with scarlet fever and diphtheria. Patients
were nursed in isolation cubicles until the diagnosis was confirmed,
and then moved to the open wards.

In 1930 MAB was abolished and the Hospital came under the control of
the LCC. A new isolation block was built in 1935 and plans for a
major rebuilding of the Hospital were made in 1939, but any work was
postponed due to the outbreak of WW2.

During WW2 the Hospital joined the Emergency
Medical Service with 462 beds. When St John's Hospital for Diseases of the Skin
was bombed during WW2,
its in-patients were moved to the Eastern - a relationship which
continued
until their closure. The Dermatological Unit had 8 wards and
various ancillary rooms (and later a Professorial Unit).

In 1948 the Hospital joined the NHS as the Eastern Hospital. It
was under the control of the Hackney Group Hospital Management
Committee, part of the North East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board.
It had 621 beds - 511 for infectious diseases patients, with a
further 110 allocated to St John's Hospital for Diseases of the Skin.

A new Out-Patients Department opened, as well as a ward for ear, nose
and throat (ENT)
patients, but the outbreak of polio meant that operations for the
removal of tonsils and adenoids had to be suspended.

In 1950 a 16-bedded ward was opened for TB patients (whose average
length of stay was 177 days). It was planned to open another two
wards of the same size in 1951 following external renovation and
repainting.

By the early 1950s the war damage to two wards had been repaired and
considerable repairs and redecoration carried out throughout the rest
of the Hospital. The occupied wards had been redecorated
throughout, as well as the laundry, the kitchen and a major portion of
the Nurses' Homes (where 300 staff, also from other hospitals in the
Group, lived).

In 1953, during a time of severe staff shortage, the Hospital had 545
beds for patients with infectious diseases and two wards with 36 beds
for TB patients. St John's Hospital for Diseases of the Skin had
51 beds.

By the mid 1950s the two TB wards had closed and the space was used for
40 beds for geriatric patients. A temporary unit was established
for patients with bulbar
polio.

In 1958 the Hospital again had 621 beds, including the 110 used by St
John's Hospital for Diseases of the Skin.

In 1963 a Regional Neurological Unit with 21 beds opened as a
rehabilitation unit. By 1966 the Hospital had 495 beds for
infectious diseases patients, geriatric patients, neurological patients
undergoing rehabilitation and for severely mentally handicapped
children.

In 1974, following a major reorganisation of the NHS, the Hospital came
under the control of the City and East London (Teaching) Area Health
Authority, part of the North East Thames Regional Health Authority.
It had 336 beds, excluding the 110 occupied by St John's Hospital
for Diseases of the Skin.

After another NHS reorganisation, in 1983 the Hospital came under the
control of the City and Hackney District Health Authority. It had
287 (excluding the St John's Hospital ones) and was being used mainly
for the rehabilitation of elderly neurological patients. Plans
for building a new general hospital on the same site were underway.
The Hospital was gradually closed as services were transferred
elsewhere. By 1984 only 23 neurorehabilitation beds remained.

The remaining beds closed when the new Homerton Hospital opened in the
summer of 1986.

Present status (December
2007)
The Eastern hospital has been mostly demolished - the only surviving
building is Chatsworth
House, currently used for gynaecological services and palliative
care.

The forecourt of Chatsworth House within
the almost fortified complex of Homerton Hospital.

Further up Brooksby's Walk, looking back
to the south, the fortress
wall of the Homerton Hospital complex can be seen, with the back of
Chatsworth House behind.

Looking north along Brooksby's Walk, one
can see what appears to be the only surviving wall of the Eastern
Hospital.

The old wall along Clifden Road, site of
the City of London workhouse.

The
site of the City of London workhouse northern infirmary is now
occupied by new housing (left), while the site of the southern
infirmary
now contains a children's centre (right).

The Homerton Hospital.

The main entrance of Homerton Hospital.

The Homerton Hospital, as seen from the
west.

The
Homerton Fever and Smallpox Hospitals were the second pair of
infectious diseases hospitals
established by the Metropolitan Asylums Board. They served
the northeast
of London, while the North
Western Hospital in
Hampstead served the northwest, South Western Hospital
in Stockwell the southwest, Fulham Hospital (later renamed the Western) the west of London
and South Eastern Hospital
in Deptford (later renamed New Cross Hospital) the southeast. They have
all now closed.
Other 'lost' hospitals in Hackney are the Hackney,
Mothers', St. Leonard's and
the German, which were replaced by the
Homerton Hospital.